A man, who was stranded in Bahrain due to a series of unfortunate events, has finally returned home to India – after 45 years.
Wali Mohamed, aged 66, hailing from Needamangalam town in Tamil Nadu state, was accompanied on the return journey by wife Rasool Begum, aged 52.
After arriving in Bahrain in the early 1980s, Mr Mohamed started a small construction business with a partner, a money lender who is now deceased. The latter offered to fund Mr Mohamed’s venture to the tune of BD2,500 and reportedly got him to sign a few blank sheets of paper.
In 1990, when the business broke down, Mr Mohamed informed his late partner of his decision to close down the business. The partner filed several cases using signed empty sheets of paper and obtained a travel ban against him.
Mr Mohamed tried to recover the amount and even repaid BD2,300. However, his passport was confiscated and since 1991, he was living in Bahrain without a passport and valid CPR.
As he was not able to travel to India, he brought his wife to Bahrain in 1999 through a kind-hearted lady as a housemaid.
They lived in a one-bedroom-hall apartment in Gudaibiya with an income barely sufficient to cover their daily expenses. During this time, they also had a daughter.
In 2000, Mr Mohamed suffered a stroke and was paralysed.
Many good Samaritans lent them money and Mr Mohamed managed to receive treatment from some public hospitals. Over time, he was able to overcome his paralysis and is now mobile but still incapable of hard physical labour.
After trying everything, Mr Mohamed approached the Non-Resident Tamil Indian Association, a non-governmental organisation helping Indian Tamils living in Bahrain.
“We took the case to the Indian Embassy, who helped us prepare his documents. We also took up his case in court to clear the many travel bans against his name and, after a long, complicated process, we were able to repatriate the couple,” association chairman Muhamed Hussain Malim told the GDN yesterday.
“The couple led an extremely difficult life and we’re happy that we could help,” he added.
“This is our fifth such case and there continue to be many such individuals who are victims of loan sharks or have lost their jobs and are unable to travel back.
“Mr Mohamed had the documents to prove he had repaid BD2,300 and we have verified it as well.”
The couple flew back home on Friday.
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